The cost of animal research

The US biomedical research community has long debated how to bill different types of animal research costs. Specifically, which aspects of animal research should be charged as direct costs, and which should be charged as indirect (or facilities and administrative) costs? In this paper, the author describes why the community has yet to clearly define what constitutes indirect costs. He then suggests how researchers, administrators and government officials can categorize different aspects of animal research as direct or indirect costs.